To drink or not to drink?

Wednesday

Sep 10, 2008 at 11:30 PM

Allison Bennett Dyche

"Passage of this would be very valuable for my business. On a typical NFL Sunday I do approximately one-third of what the average Beef 'O Brady's does in sales," he said. "But my volume for the rest of week's sales are above average. If you take the extra money passage of this would bring in on Sunday, it would make me one of their higher volume stores. People will walk in on a Sunday, find out they can't have a beer and leave. So I lose the food sale as well as the alcohol sale."

Goolsby said that, in order to encourage people to get out and vote in favor of the referendum, he has had signs printed and has asked other restaurants to purchase as many as they can and put them out wherever they see fit. Plus, he and others will be purchasing ads in local newspapers.

Joy Crow, a server at Molly MacPherson's, thinks passing the referendum would be good for local businesses, but she's not sure enough people are behind it.

"When it first came up, I thought it would pass easily, but now I'm not so sure. I think it is probably close to a 50-50 split right now," she said. "I think it is going to be a hard vote. A lot of the churches are against it. But I think that if it does pass, it will bring more restaurants, more businesses and more people to Richmond Hill. I think it would be a good thing business-wise."

The start of a downward spiral

The Rev. Carlton Cooper of Bethel Baptist Church in Richmond Hill said he is definitely opposed to the proposed Sunday alcohol sales ordinance, and he said at least 95 percent of his congregation feels the same way.

Cooper said that, as a Christian, it is a moral issue to him because he doesn't think alcohol sales benefit the community. However, he noted that the real issue isn't the alcohol sales itself, as alcohol is already sold within the city six days a week.

"From our perspective, the real issue is, what are we saying to our children and our grandchildren and to this community as a whole about our attitude toward our worship of God, our relationship with God?" he asked. "It boils down to a matter of reverence and respect for the Lord's day, which has traditionally, by the Christian church, always been Sunday. It speaks volumes, I believe, to our attitude toward God and our relationship with Him and His day."

He said that by allowing Sunday alcohol sales, the community is telling youth that Sundays are not special, and are no different than Friday nights or Saturdays.

Cooper has lived in Richmond Hill for 27 years, has raised his family here and loves the area. "We are really concerned about this, because I think it's just another sign of a drift away from some of those traditional values that we hold very dear," he said. "We just don't want to see the city move this way in this matter."

He is asking voters to consider that, if the city allows Sunday alcohol sales in restaurants, what would be next? "See, it's the old analogy ... you know, sometimes if we crack the door, before we realize it, the door's wide open," he said.

Impact and the vote

Chief Billy Reynolds of the Richmond Hill Police Department said if the referendum passes, he doesn't think it will affect the police department too much. "We're gonna do the same thing we do now: compliance checks," Reynolds said. "We get DUIs on Sundays now, so, I mean, it's not going to change that much. People who are gonna drink on Sundays are gonna find somewhere to drink."

He said he doesn't think Sunday alcohol sales would mean increased patrols for his officers, nor would it mean an increase in underage alcohol consumption. "Most of the underage drinking would occur from sales from picking up at stores, or having people buy alcohol for them, or even from their parents providing alcohol," Reynolds explained. "Most of these businesses are very careful, especially restaurants, about not serving alcohol to minors."

Bryan County Election Supervisor Sam Davis said the only polling place open will be at the Wetlands Center in J.F. Gregory Park.

"Ballots can be cast from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.," Davis said. "And from what I've seen so far, I expect we're going to have a fairly low turnout. It just doesn't appear that anyone pro or con is doing much about getting the voters out."

Davis said as of Tuesday afternoon, only 30 of the almost 5,000 active voters in Richmond Hill had cast an early or absentee ballot.

Richmond Hill residents will head to the polls Sept. 16 to decide whether to repeal or keep one of Georgia's Blue Laws by voting whether or not to allow restaurants within the city to serve alcohol by the drink on Sundays.

The referendum will only be open to voters who live within the Richmond Hill city limits.

Good for business

Beef 'O Brady's owner Doug Goolsby has helped organize an effort among local restaurants to get the vote out in favor of the referendum.

"Passage of this would be very valuable for my business. On a typical NFL Sunday I do approximately one-third of what the average Beef 'O Brady's does in sales," he said. "But my volume for the rest of week's sales are above average. If you take the extra money passage of this would bring in on Sunday, it would make me one of their higher volume stores. People will walk in on a Sunday, find out they can't have a beer and leave. So I lose the food sale as well as the alcohol sale."

Goolsby said that, in order to encourage people to get out and vote in favor of the referendum, he has had signs printed and has asked other restaurants to purchase as many as they can and put them out wherever they see fit. Plus, he and others will be purchasing ads in local newspapers.

Joy Crow, a server at Molly MacPherson's, thinks passing the referendum would be good for local businesses, but she's not sure enough people are behind it.

"When it first came up, I thought it would pass easily, but now I'm not so sure. I think it is probably close to a 50-50 split right now," she said. "I think it is going to be a hard vote. A lot of the churches are against it. But I think that if it does pass, it will bring more restaurants, more businesses and more people to Richmond Hill. I think it would be a good thing business-wise."

The start of a downward spiral

The Rev. Carlton Cooper of Bethel Baptist Church in Richmond Hill said he is definitely opposed to the proposed Sunday alcohol sales ordinance, and he said at least 95 percent of his congregation feels the same way.

Cooper said that, as a Christian, it is a moral issue to him because he doesn't think alcohol sales benefit the community. However, he noted that the real issue isn't the alcohol sales itself, as alcohol is already sold within the city six days a week.

"From our perspective, the real issue is, what are we saying to our children and our grandchildren and to this community as a whole about our attitude toward our worship of God, our relationship with God?," he asked. "It boils down to a matter of reverence and respect for the Lord's day, which has traditionally, by the Christian church, always been Sunday. It speaks volumes, I believe, to our attitude toward God and our relationship with Him and His day."

He said that by allowing Sunday alcohol sales, the community is telling youth that Sundays are not special, and are no different than Friday nights or Saturdays.

Cooper has lived in Richmond Hill for 27 years, has raised his family here and loves the area. "We are really concerned about this, because I think it's just another sign of a drift away from some of those traditional values that we hold very dear," he said. "We just don't want to see the city move this way in this matter."

He is asking voters to consider that, if the city allows Sunday alcohol sales in restaurants, what would be next? "See, it's the old analogy ... you know, sometimes if we crack the door, before we realize it, the door's wide open," he said.

Impact and the vote

Chief Billy Reynolds of the Richmond Hill Police Department said if the referendum passes, he doesn't think it will affect the police department too much. "We're gonna do the same thing we do now: compliance checks," Reynolds said. "We get DUIs on Sundays now, so, I mean, it's not going to change that much. People who are gonna drink on Sundays are gonna find somewhere to drink."

He said he doesn't think Sunday alcohol sales would mean increased patrols for his officers, nor would it mean an increase in underage alcohol consumption. "Most of the underage drinking would occur from sales from picking up at stores, or having people buy alcohol for them, or even from their parents providing alcohol," Reynolds explained. "Most of these businesses are very careful, especially restaurants, about not serving alcohol to minors."

Bryan County Election Supervisor Sam Davis said the only polling place open will be at the Wetlands Center in J.F. Gregory Park.

"Ballots can be cast from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.," Davis said. "And from what I've seen so far, I expect we're going to have a fairly low turnout. It just doesn't appear that anyone pro or con is doing much about getting the voters out."

Davis said as of Tuesday afternoon, only 30 of the almost 5,000 active voters in Richmond Hill had cast an early or absentee ballot.